Our Constitution has seven Articles, or “topic sections,” in a sense. The longest and most important, is the first. It describes the bi-cameral Congress. While both Senators and Representatives are members of Congress, we have customarily called Representatives, “Congressmen or Congresswomen;” Senators are Senators. However, members of both “Houses” are members of Congress. Congress OUGHT to be the most important of the three branches of government. It represents the people of the States (Representatives) and the States, themselves (Senators), at least that is the original design. That design has been weakened variously and repeatedly by those who don’t trust small-r “republicanism.” Those are they who proclaim that the United States is a “democracy,” which is intentionally NOT the basic covenant embodied in the Preamble or in the Constitution, itself.
Before we dig deeper into Article I, we must illuminate the problems inherent in “democracy.” Like many, you have probably been convinced to revere democracy when, in fact, it must be carefully constrained in order to serve the government proposed by the Constitution, a real vessel for reverence. Prudence would instruct that democracy is only a mechanism for selecting our representatives, the most crucial of the members of Congress.
Inevitably, the more power allowed to democracy, the more likely that the government will become authoritarian and no longer a partner with its citizens in their success. Democracy gains power from majority action, only. The majority rules in “a democracy.” There are no protections for minority interests. The intended partnership role of our government of the people, by the people and for the people, will quickly degrade to protection of the government and the governors, which we see now in 2023. What has this to do with democracy or the Senate?
The Senate was originally designed to represent the interests of the STATES, whose sovereignty in our FEDERATION, was paramount for many in the Convention and many in the country (and still should be). Every State had its interests and every Senator had reason to respect the will of his or her State’s legislature. In other words, Senators had to answer to a very small set of representatives of their State’s population. Those worthies ought to have had the needs of their States uppermost in their minds, and could not be ignored at the times of choosing their Senators. Senators were supposed to be responsible to their States’ interests.
The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1913, a most dangerous period for our Republic and for republicanism. It changed the election of Senators to statewide popular voting – pure democracy with almost no accountability, in fact. Since then, the quality of Senators has declined significantly, on average. Democracy places more power in the hands of power and money “brokers,” as it were. Being accountable to everyone has meant being accountable to no one… no one, that is, except the leaders of the Senate and their control of their parties, and of sources of campaign funds.
Pure democracy also is subject to temporary, sometimes mob-like majority emotions. This was recognized in ancient Greece and is an even greater threat in the world of social media, 24–7 news media and widespread (planned) ignorance of reality and history. The mechanism of a Republic filters out those emotions. Citizens must choose the best among them to represent their interests TO the government; States would go through two stages of selection: first to their legislatures and Governors and then to their subsequent appointments of Senators. The Senate, with its longer terms, limited membership and fractional replacement, should be the more thoughtful and, dare we say, wise house of Congress. It’s design is intended to prevent emotional response and to be more accountable for its actions. Much of that “shock-absorber” function was thrown out with the switch to direct election in 1913. For shame.
Still, there are two houses of Congress and both must approve legislation, ostensibly a brake on foolish ideas. In the two-party fog of war, however, and the lack of limits on terms, it serves more effectively to stop good ideas. Abortion, for example can be hotly defended while balancing the budget is set aside. Worse, the Congress has, since the end of the Civil War, rushed to devolve its responsibilities and hand them to the (unelected and virtually un-fire-able) administrative state. About three-fourths of the federal “budget” is in the realm of entitlements or pensions, and “State-aid,” Federal dollars paid out to a thousand programs that States ostensibly control (or misapply). Those dollars twist the sovereignty of states and the thought processes of representatives and senators: No state should receive an unfair allotment of federal largesse. Federal dollars come as if by magic, with many of them being borrowed from the unbelievably distant future, sidestepping the responsibility of raising taxes to obtain them. Congress, both Houses, have “bought into” this sham. There is little statesmanship to point to among the whole number of them.
The most important power of the House of Representatives is to initiate any raising or, as virtually never happens, reducing of revenues. This includes raising taxes or changing tax rates. The Senate must concur, including amendments to bills, so they are nearly as involved in budgets as the House, including in terms of shucking responsibilities in favor of the administrative state.
Other powers of Congress include BORROWING against the full faith and credit of the United States; Coining money and regulating the value thereof; Set uniform rules of naturalization (for legal immigrants); to regulate commerce with other nations and among the several States; to promote the advancement of the sciences and protect invention and copyrights; to declare war including raising the Army and the Navy; to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the United States, and to suppress Insurrections and repel invasions. Among other things.
The Congress is also charged with making laws necessary to effect Execution of the laws passed for operation of the Government and any agency or Department thereof. This last has proven to be the greatest threat to the “Blessings of Liberty” ordained in the Preamble. Hence the administrative and nearly perpetual state, busy passing regulations that are enforced as if at the status of enacted Law. For shame.
The discussion of Article I has, unfortunately, been mostly a rendition of what is failing in Congress and in the operations of Congress, and how far afield from the intentions of republican governance Congress has strayed. It is intensely advised, and Prudent, that Americans study Article I and reflect on history and the events of the past 30 years or so. Congress needs reconstruction as much as the South did in 1866, for it has engaged in insurrection against the Constitution, attempting to overthrow it by divesting Congress, itself, from its responsibilities. The United States is nearly $34 Trillion in debt.
On November 8th, a cold day before the first frost, hereabouts, Prudence found the very last Morning Glory blossom on a set of vines that looked dead for more than a couple of weeks. While it seemed lonely, perhaps forlorn, that blossom faced the sun with purpose. It was telling its world that even when all doors seemed closed, the spark of life, matched with a strong purpose – or courage – was overcoming almost everything.
We are witnessing the dismantling of the United States as a sovereign nation. It is sad that no news organization asks questions about it. It is the only end result that makes sense of Biden’s open-border tragedy and it’s not a new idea: George W. Bush talked about creating a “North American Union” similar to the European Union, where petty local elections would mean less and less and less. The free flow of peoples is part of it. Erasing quaint ideas of nationalism and America-first, are parts of it, too. No wonder Trump was so hated by the anti-nationalists who are in charge. It’s all globalist crap, and every Democrat supports it, yet not more than two Republicans have spoken of it, much. American citizens? Why tell them anything?
The deep state has discussed the concepts of an “NAU” with both Mexico and Canada over the past 20 years and probably more. There hasn’t been any effort to speak to the United States about it. President George H. W. Bush spoke of “… a new world order…” in the early 90’s, as though the actions and policies of the United States were somehow leading to that mythical utopia. You can spot those who share that concept: they looove the United Nations. They get a thrill from hearing people from less-successful and far more oppressed nations telling the United States what to do.
Barack Obama is a true acolyte in that church. Not only did he apologize to the world for real and imagined mistakes the U. S. has made… forever, but he couches his basic hatred of his own country in terms of racism: the unassailable condemnation. There are many like him. They’ve taken to calling for U. N. oversight of OUR elections! Yet, there is almost nothing the U. N. does that improves freedom or raises standards of living – except for the standards of living for those that work for the U. N. It is an horrendously corrupt and wasteful bureaucracy, and the U. S. feels compelled to pay the lion’s share of its many budgets. Being “woke” began with the U. N. after World War II; supporting the U. N., even over support for the U. S. is one of the greatest virtue-signals possible.
To rush along the “New World Order,” leftists within our own government favor and work for acceptance of U. N. directives. The fundamental process requires giving up bits and pieces of U. S. sovereignty, which also means discarding our Constitutionally protected, God-given rights. Within every variation of justification for elevating humanity to become our own gods, there is a constant drumbeat against religion (mostly against Christianity) and no room for God, himself. Here in one of the few nations founded or premised upon religious freedom, we find numerous CHURCHES and watered-down, rainbow-flagged liturgies, that strongly support the U. N. Individuality and individual relationships with God and Christ are not preached or honored there, any longer. Marching toward the new world order is a march to the left, Godless and socialist.
“The New World Order” is not a phrase that’s tossed around of late. What is dropped often enough is the term, “The Great Reset.” Everyone in favor of the Great Reset is perfectly happy with the prospects of a new world order, make no mistake. “Great Reset” is the brain-fart of the self-exalted “World Economic Forum,” led by the chief fart, Klaus Schwab. No one elected him; he and the rest of those who are “members” of the “Forum,” are self-appointed, very wealthy individuals who have developed significant sway over actual political, elected leaders. Despite their capitalist origins, they all seem quite comfortable with a socialist, one-world future. All seem convinced that socialism has failed heretofore only because those attempting to employ it were not as smart as this current gang of utterly secular insurrectionists… insurrection being the overthrow of existing government(s).
The Great Reset received a huge boost from the COVID-19 pandemic. Incipient global rulers watched the lockdowns and mandating of experimental vaccines with satisfied glee. Millions of hitherto “sovereign” citizens were accepting extra-legal control of movement, employment, worship and assembly on the premise of stopping an infectious virus. Constitutions and other statements of rights were set aside with minimal resistance. To globalists, this behavior showed that tyrannical control is manageable. God forbid.
Still, among the dying vines of freedom, faith, private property rights and individuality, there are enough living cells to blossom forth in glory. But, can we protect freedom’s flower from the coming frost of de-population, famine and global communism, under which, according to the benevolent Klaus Schwab, we will “own nothing and be happy?”
Representatives of our own government, including the incredibly corrupt Vice-President, Joseph Robinette Biden, descendant of slave owners and top dog in a corrupt and morally twisted family, have attended and addressed the W. E. F. in its Davos meetings. Biden’s last speech there, a couple days before Trump’s inauguration, was full of internationalist palaver and platitudes of cooperation salted with anti-Russian, anti-Putin derogation. As President, however, Biden has governed this country in contravention of his utopian dreams expressed to the W. E. F. Indeed, he has governed in contravention of his sworn oath upon inauguration: his word is cheap – easily purchased. With some 150 instances of questionable financial transactions among the several Bidens and foreign countries, it may prove difficult to ascertain who owns the largest portion of good ol’ Joe’s integrity. Observations – and Biden’s own actions – would indicate that significant ownership of his integrity belongs to Communist China, and not to the citizens of the United States.
“The West” owes to itself and to all mankind a proper regulation / limitation of raw capitalism. Today’s youth are rightly fed up with the distortions caused by hyper-accumulation of wealth. Capitalism was the servant of freedom while free-enterprise was possible, encouraged and promoted by republican governments. It worked while laws and judicial impartiality provided an honest business environment, one of the best in the world. In other words, free enterprise worked when government was honest, both federal and state. A hundred aspects of Covid-19 response have shown that our governments and multiple enforcement agencies have become dishonest, with even our largest, most trusted, government-corrupted, medical delivery systems forcing forms of protocols that have increased the death toll from Covid at least 100%. The “government” provided financial incentives to hospitals to both identify and treat “Covid” patients, including specific treatments and, oddly, lacks thereof. Thousands have died because normal treatments and checkups for cancers, heart disease and many other conditions, were stopped or avoided by patients. The crimes are so huge we’ll never have all the statistics.
The fastest way to start stitching the American opportunity society back together, is to return to honesty in government – something that seems anathema to today’s politicians and to the deep state.
All we true Americans need is the single-minded purpose of a Morning Glory blossom, determined to return our glory to the world.
We, meaning the Exchange Club of Lawrence and the Andovers, and a bunch of wonderful volunteers and relatives thereof, installed the “Field of Honor” for the third time on the North Andover, Massachusetts Common, this past Saturday. It is a labor of love and patriotism and, in fact, a most serious community service, part of two of Exchange’s Four Pillars of Service. To do a lot of what a “full-calendar” Exchange Club wants to accomplish each year requires money, and mixed with our forms of service to our communities are some vital fund-raising events; the Field of Honor is a four-way winner on that calendar. With a single project we fulfill “Americanism,” we raise needed funds, we unify our Club and we provide “Community Service” for all of those who sponsor flags in memory of loved ones or in honor of them, who recognize first-responders, health-care workers, coaches, teachers and other personal “V.I.P.’s” in their lives.
Each sponsored flag has affixed a colorful, laminated “Tag” that names the honoree, field of service and heartfelt commentary by the sponsor about this very important person. The first time we “did” a Field of Honor we followed the lead of a nearby Exchange and tried to read all the dedications on the day of ceremony at the end of the Field’s term of display. We messed it up fairly well since we didn’t have a good database, but the hearing of one’s dedication was very important to the flag sponsors, a fact made abundantly clear to us by those who did not hear their own, or who missed the reading. That is when the nature of the service we were suddenly responsible to provide properly, became clear.
We’ve fixed that database problem. We’ve also fixed our lack of recognition among the communities we’ve served for, now, 75 years. Both our Club members and the Club, itself, can be identified with this beautifully visible display, now of three-week’s duration. But, the “Field” is still greater than the values already noted. It’s a unifier when Unity in these “United” States is under its greatest stress. This is the larger part of the story.
Dis-unity is the most potent weapon there is in the hands of an enemy of a democratic republic – a republic built on personal morality and personal responsibility and above and beneath all, FREEDOM. In the past dozen (or five-dozen) years, or so, we have witnessed the coalescing of “liberal,” socialistic tendencies toward dictatorial government, around the always-tender concerns about race and attendant hatreds. There is very little within the non-discussive discussions about race in the U. S. that involve truth. Among intentional, often political LIES about race or racism, exist often-repeated – shouted – non-truths that are based upon beliefs that are just not so. That is, many, mostly guilt-ridden liberals, repeat statements they believe are true, but the premises of which are false. They have no intention to lie, per se, but become greatly exercised as they parrot non-truths. We should stipulate some truths.
One – Different races are not limited compared to any other race in terms of ABILITY, only by BELIEFS. Within those beliefs are familial, parental and social expectations that are imprinted even before birth, as to what constitutes propriety and success for an individual.
Two – Mixing races together, including by force, as with slavery, ALWAYS carries the risk of continuing division because of conflicting BELIEFS, not because of mental or physical abilities. Humans are much more alike than not, despite oft-repeated untruths we may have grown up with. Diversity, in and of itself, is a weakening agent to the cohesiveness of a society, to a nation. Similarity is the great strengthener, and, when reinforced by diverse experiences, a tremendous strength to the United States nation. Diversity for its own sake is a source of social divisiveness, yet now governs our economic and social constructs, including valuations of one another as “sufficiently diverse” enough in our daily lives and actions. No nation can survive, no society can succeed if its interactions are biased toward the non-traditional beliefs of newcomers, rather than the newcomers being required to live by our traditional moral standards, no matter their personal beliefs.
Three – Shared morality is essential to social unity and to economic success. America’s economic success is based on fundamental honesty in contracts written and unwritten, from marriage to multi-year leases, commodity pricing and delivery, and in covenants between the people-formed governments and those governments, themselves, local state and federal. Together with honesty in contracting, our sense of – belief in – sacrifice for a better future for our children and for people unknown, made our phenomenal growth and wealth possible. Welcoming, or allowing establishment of, moralities alternative to the historical, traditional morality of a society, is a first step to social suicide. Americans, in our folly, are not merely tolerant of other beliefs, which is relatively harmless, but we fail to require all citizens to live by our own fundamental moral traditions. Indeed, we have managed to talk ourselves out of living by them.
Four – There are two genders: many feelings about one’s place and purpose and pursuit of happiness, but only two genders. That so much heat is generated over “trans-genderism” or “trans-sexuality” is based on those individuals who desire so much to believe in two contradictory ideas at the same time, that they will endure a host of suspicions and fears among “straight” populations. Others who desire acceptance of aberrant lifestyles, AND those who are mainly interested in the dissolution of the United States, seize upon those who believe in trans-genderism and employ their suffering – which is real – as a further wedge to separate the vast majority of Americans from their traditional morality. Sadly, ultra-progressive parents, themselves, are changing their own beliefs to accommodate the popularized mental incongruity that two diametrically opposed concepts may be true at the same time. Small children who claim to be other than their actual gender are encouraged in this incongruity even to the point of chemical – EVEN SURGICAL – modification of growth and maturation (with untold consequences, nearly all of which are negative). Supposed psychologists, scientists of a sort, including “child” psychologists, have bent their attitudes towards normality and no longer advise maintaining traditional roles for children until maturity. Most minors “grow out of” dyspohric fantasies. Unfortunately, a less and less morally constrained population has created political pressure sufficient to have draconian laws passed requiring society to accommodate these incongruities, to the direct affront of not only honesty, but of all traditional moral codes, including religious codes, and to our peril as a democratic republic, which, as noted, can function only amidst a population self-controlled by shared morality.
Five – Derek Chauvin did not kill George Floyd. Oh, he was “convicted” of murder, much like Joe Biden having been certified as President. The Chauvin conviction was mere confirmation of what weak, jittery politicians had agreed with mobs to do. The nearly sainted George Floyd was on an express bus to an early death that day, before his antics even gained police attention. Chauvin, not the brightest bulb in the string, could have feigned great concern and demanded that people taking videos go find a doctor instead. He could have laid George’s big head on his lap and tried talking to him while they waited for the EMT’s. He’d still have his job, Minneapolis would still be a city, and dozens of businesses and thousands of jobs would still be supporting families in Minnesota. No, Chauvin didn’t kill Floyd, but he caused the deaths of many others and many more to come as idiotic, fearful, politicians attempt to buy favor from Communists and fascists by weakening police departments.
Six – To say that “black lives matter” is to state an obvious fact; all lives matter in a non-communist society: our morality informs us of the sacredness and sanctity of human life. To adhere to the “Black Lives Matter” organization as some sort of leaders in the mattering of black lives, however, is to put the lie to every aspect of the sanctity of black and every other life. More than in any other “advanced” culture, lives matter most under a system of freedom and personal worth. Religion has a lot to do with that, Christianity most of all in this Prudent view. To latch on to anti-Christians for leadership in this area of humanity, is utterly nonsensical. Misguided blacks, in fact, are at the forefront of DISCOUNTING the values of black lives! Let us count the ways.
Blacks are solidly Democratic in their politics, evidently expecting expansive government to make their lives better. Yet it is they who have the most to say about the betterment of their lives and the lives of all blacks. After 60 years of federalized welfare and the concurrent dissolution of the black family, wise blacks can readily describe the negative impact on black lives, a gift from Democrats. The incessant turning away from success by so many black youth, consumed in hatred for anything “white,” like educational excellence and personal merit, is also a product of political divisiveness employed by the great protectors of blacks: Democrats.
Just as was done in South Africa during apartheidt, unions have been strong promoters of unionization and minimum wage laws – the net effect of which have been to make it more comfortable to hire whites instead of blacks. Black youth, more likely to be lower-skilled, unfortunately, are denied their best marketable quality: willingness to work for less to get started up the ladders of success. We have made it illegal to work for less. Alternatives on the streets and gang associations where all the leaders are non-white, are made much more attractive to disaffected youth. Keeping blacks unskilled and inexperienced serves to make unionized jobs more white… just like in South Africa. Who are the strongest proponents of unionization and minimum wages? Democrats, who are trying their hardest to improve the lot of blacks, just ask them. Those are they who celebrate success of black Democrats while heaping scorn upon blacks of other political views. Black lives matter, so much.
President Joe Biden, race-baiter in chief… and great “unifier,” has authorized the flying of “Black Lives Matter” flags at American embassies around the world. It is a move so utterly offensive to so many, and so essentially diametric toward everything the United States has ever professed, fought-for or relied upon in its founding ideas and ideals, and so stupid, as to expose the rank folly of this man’s being president of this nation or of virtually any organization of alert humans. Nothing he does is to be trusted. Nothing he has done as president is pro-American… or anti-racist.
Seven – Education is the primary business of parents: not of the government at any level, or of teachers unions or of mediocrity contracts with arbitrary groups of teachers. Teachers are hired, fundamentally, to teach our children how to be honest, literate, knowledgeable about science, mathematics and the natural world, and knowledgeable about our culture and founding, governing principles. Educators need not teach religion, per se, but about religion as part of World History. Nor should they teach against it. They should teach common decency and respect for others, good manners and propriety in all things within the school campus/environment. Sports and other team functions and competitions are relevant for good health and good adjustment to the individual strengths and weaknesses of others. Exposure to the Arts is also essential for becoming well-rounded individuals, armed with some choices of direction to follow after the first 12 years of instruction. Elective courses should include “manual arts” and tool use, carpentry and basic trade skills. It is not the business of educators to expose minor children to unusual sexual practices or any sexual practices. The subject matter of any “Health” class should be vetted by the parents of children in the school system, else their children may not attend said class. Any school or “system” unwilling to collaborate with parents at that level about sexuality or any other area of controversy, perhaps with open petitioning by a certain percentage of parents, requiring such vetting, does not deserve access to students or to the tax monies that follow them.
Ideally, every school should be a Charter School, and every child should be expected to excel… and to behave.
Eight – The breaching of the Capitol Building on January 6th was not an insurrection. It was several things, but “insurrection” was not one of them. There was no attempt, or even hope, to overthrow the sitting government or our governing “system,” EXCEPT where said system was lying to the American people. The mealy-mouthed half-truths and outright lies tossed around in the hallowed halls of Congress, ostensibly to do “the people’s business” has become so offensive and off-target that people wanted to talk to their erstwhile “representatives” who were about to certify a most questionable election of one of the most crooked presidents-elect to ever reach that level. The actions of some who assaulted the building were clearly unrelated to the President’s words; those are they who entered the crowds at the Capitol and who had not attended the rally.
Capitol police, oddly, had not, despite advance notice for days, made any reasonable attempts to make such a breach difficult and, in fact, made the breach easier, even to helping people enter the building once the physical breaches had occurred. Offers of reinforcement from the Trump administration were refused because of “optics,” we’re told. Yet the entire period since the rather silly impacts of the vandalism and broken windows, has been nothing but “optics,” as conservatives and Trump voters, generally, have been branded as “white supremacists” and “terrorists” and greater threats to “democracy” than “9-11.” What hogwash. The greatest threat to “democracy” in the past several decades exists among those who engineered the 2020 Elections that led to certification of the electoral College votes that propelled Biden-Harris to be sworn in on January 20th. To say that the January 6th events were not a legitimate “protest” against perceived government mendacity is to rewrite history and word-meanings simultaneously. Long before the 2020 elections, sufficient reasons to protest the actions within the Capitol were accumulating: things like $27 Trillion in debts.
Breaching the Capitol was foolish, obviously, and illegal in its own right, from which a host of other crimes and misdemeanors flowed. The worst crime, committed by a Capitol Police officer, was the point-blank murder of Ashli Babbit, who was not assaulting any person or presenting a threat to the officer who shot her. Ms. Babbit was unarmed. Four months later we can finally identify the police officer at fault, despite video of the incident. He is a Trump-hater, reportedly, but not charged with this crime. Can we suppose that had the breach been the work of “BLM” that the entire congressional leadership would have taken a knee on their Communist behalf in the Rotunda? Fourteenth Amendment, anyone?
Back to the Field of Honor in North Andover: Exchange attempts to gather good people to a common purpose, much of which is helping, serving, others. Through scholarships, recognitions of excellence and of overcoming tough challenges, and through Americanism, we attempt to remind our fellow Americans of the qualities that are worth emulating, honoring and teaching. In our experience, people need that reminding; they need to remember or recognize and honor those who were raised with those vital qualities; people truly want the reminding: it affirms that the best of being an American is still true and worth emulating, including to whatever extent, in their own lives and in the lives of those around them.
To all those who, for whatever reason or untruth you are convinced of, teach our children, and who convey that America and its entire history and purpose is to be hated and discarded for a socialized, anti-Christian system that has failed wherever tried, stop! You have no right.
January 6, 2021 was a day in the life of freedom, our fragile system of human self-perfection and responsibility, that exposed not the risk to America from conservatives, but from established leftist vipers. That establishment was and is represented – publicly – by Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, a strange person to say the most.
What happened? American citizens, convinced by the flood of evidence of astounding election fraud engineered within and without the United States, primarily by China, massed in Washington, D. C. to protest the imminent congressional certification / acceptance of fraudulent election results that were about to award the presidency and vice-presidency to the Joe Biden, Kamala Harris team. The U. S. has sunk to its lowest point.
Evidently, groups of actual troublemakers had fulfilled their long-intercepted plans to attack the Capitol under the guise of disappointed Trump supporters. The help requested by the chief of the Capitol police – the same help President Trump had offered to provide well in advance of the January 6th rally, had been denied by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, under whose office the security of the Capitol rests. Why would someone in her exalted position deny guarantees of safety for those who rely upon her for protection?
One theory is that the thrilling possibility of an event like the breach of the Capitol had such future political value for those like Mrs. Pelosi who are happy to demonize anyone who clings to the promise and premise of the United States. First, Trump provided a focus for hatred – a revolting, dangerous political energy – and the opportunity to tie Trump derangement syndrome to “insurrection” was worth the risks from facilitating the breach. That’s just a theory, of course that neatly associates all the odd circumstances.
People at the rally report that the closer they got to the Capitol the less the crowd felt like the rally crowd. People, men, mostly, in camouflage outfits and wearing vests and helmets were agitating for an attack. Some had pro-Trump hats but seemed more interested in assault than in protest. At least a few, it has been revealed, were connected to “Antifa,” an organization whose views are closer to Nancy Pelosi’s than to Donald Trump’s… or to Prudence Leadbetter’s for that matter. Indeed, those worthies had begun the assault on the Capitol long before Trump had finished his rally speech. No matter.
The resulting media storm, cries of “insurrection!” and “murder” of a Capitol Police officer who died of natural causes well after the assault, and the death of an actual unarmed – like every other entrant – Trump supporter who followed the crowd into the building and was shot by an officer who had likely never been in as stressful a situation as was allowed to develop by Nancy Pelosi for the foulest reasons an American could imagine, was utterly predictable. And it was all Trump’s fault, requiring his impeachment.
It’s only a theory, but once the machinations, intrigue, subterfuge, lies and treason needed to subvert a presidential election were proven successful, and virtually impossible to overturn, investigate or correct, then the opportunity to completely take over the future of the United States was made clear to the radical left, and to Mrs. Pelosi who will lie down with any suitor who proclaims her to be a great leader. The razor-wire-topped fence around her Capitol is a fitting symbol of the new American order. Here and there a smattering of logic and justice may appear, like the “acquittal” vote, but it is not of much concern to our new masters.
No longer a Capitol of a free, self-governing people, the complex of outrageously costly buildings atop Capitol Hill is, in fact, a citadel from which our Democrat dictators will rule in safety. Theoretically, we may have voted in the last election and the façade of the Republic will fall off in pieces , exposing the ugliness about to hatch.
It’s only a theory that ties together all the evidence, but real Americans can pray that it is proven wrong.
Forever in a field they wave… In rows and columns true; Each soldier’s memory proudly etched – Loyalty, dressed Red, White and Blue. Deeds of Honor recognized… Of times not long ago; Field of Flags wave proudly. History written in hearts aglow… Offer silent reverence, quiet prayer; Noble servants rightly praised… On through time pass forever grateful. Remembered with Flags unfurled and raised. By Mike Sousa, North Andover
In a summer marred by urban insurrections and variously excessive and unconstitutional, official pandemic fears and dicta, community service clubs, pillars of society, all, “Zoom” notwithstanding, continue their often unheralded works raising money to give away, along with countless hours of volunteer time. So it is with chapters of the Exchange Clubs of America who “Exchange our Service today to build stronger communities and a better Nation tomorrow.” This concept would be moribund if Exchange (and Rotary, Kiwanis and others) did not believe in the likelihood of stronger communities and a better Nation tomorrow. In fact, service clubs’ heartfelt faith in America’s striving for a more perfect Union – and Unity – is so directly opposite, and in opposition to the sea of hatreds that some stoke for anti-American ideologies, that the distinctions are quite sharp in the Summer of 2020.
Exchange in the lower Merrimack River Valley of northeastern Massachusetts is one of those chapters: the Exchange Club of Lawrence and the Andovers, sponsored in 1947 by the Exchange Club of Lowell, Mass., 8 miles up the river, just a few months after the Exchange Club of Haverhill was chartered, 8 miles down the river from Lawrence. Many Clubs were formed or grew significantly right after World War Two, as Americans returned from battles in terrible places and conditions to recognize how great the promise and premise of the United States of America truly were then and, Exchange members believe, still are today. Americanism is one of the 4 pillars of Service that define Exchange Clubs of America.
Following the September 11th attacks in 2001, a flag company, at the urging of Exchange members in Sandy, Utah, created the first “Healing Field” of nearly 3,000 flags for those killed in the 9-11 attacks. The idea became a National Exchange project and over the past 20 years has been a focus for 9-11 and for other events that cry out for attention and memory across the country, promoted by various Exchange Clubs and by many other organizations.
Despite Covid-19 shutdowns and restrictions, the Town of North Andover, where Exchange did its first local “Field of Honor” in 2019, encouraged us to do a Field in 2020, as well, although without a closing, crowd-attracting ceremony on the Common where 500 flags were displayed. Local access TV created a video of the many parts of the ceremony that we would have done, and created a You-Tube video for anyone to watch:
The value of the Field of Honor is not mere patriotism, as essential as patriotism certainly is, it is a set of focused remembrances. Whether “In Memory Of” or “In Honor Of,” the person(s) to whom a flag is dedicated is an important part of who the flag sponsor is, now, today. The first time our Club installed a “Field of Honor,” we were not ready for the importance to our “customers” of this simple act of stating – printing out for all to see – the name and “heroic” worth of their relatives, antecedent or descendant, or even of great, somewhat sacrificial friends, even acquaintances. In every case, the honoree associated with each flag is important to the flag sponsor and the fact that he or she or they remember or take note of the honoree and are in some way affirmed in their own lives by the excellence, value or sacrifice of the honoree. It is intensely important that their own lives are acknowledged through the best connections that comprise them. It’s spiritual.
Every flag is about love and many about the deepest love: respect. Each tells a story about the sponsor and about the honoree, living or passed. The Field of Honor is merely a focus for manifested love and remembrance, but oh, so crucial – something the club was not prepared for the first time we installed a Field in 2019. Even more, we were not prepared for the importance of reading, saying, the dedications out loud. Spiritual.
For the Town of North Andover and for Andover and Lawrence as well, the Field created a statement of normalcy against a backdrop of Marxist anti-American hatred in the spring and Summer of 2020. There it was okay to be patriotic, okay to recognize goodness and honor and duty. There were so many outpourings of gratitude to the Club when the gratitude belonged to the flag sponsors… at least as the Club members saw it. Yet there they were, steadily, thanking us for erecting the Field. Humbling, spiritual.
For those who don’t share the views of rioters and insurrectionists, the Field is a comfort. It’s presence is an affirmation of America, of the Constitution, of what we hold dear in our families, and of what we hold dear in our faiths. The American flag, itself, is simple, by itself… no more complex than any other national flag, and we display it and hundreds of others very simply. A cheap PVC pipe is the flag-pole, slid over a short piece of steel rebar we try to pound vertically, we hope, into the soil. Tie-wraps hold the flag in place through holes we drill through the pipe, and a cheap golden bulb is stretched – coaxed – over the top. The flag is a printed one of decent quality, metal grommets and sewn edging. We tell sponsors that it will last eleven months and two weeks.
But for patriots the flag is a history, a heritage, a dream and a promise. Those who dedicate one to an Honoree of their choice, feel all of these aspects of this amazing symbol and yet more – things they can’t put into words. As we install them, straighten them, put dedication tags on them, and straighten them again, we feel those things, too. Together, we not only feel that history and heritage, and hear those dreams and promises, we make them, anew.
At the beginning of our You Tube video our senior member, a virtual pillar of these communities – his children following his example – recites a somewhat famous, somewhat poetic statement entitled, “I Am The Flag,” by Howard Schnauber:
I am the flag of the United States of America.
My name is Old Glory. I fly atop the world’s tallest buildings. I stand watch in America’s halls of justice. I fly majestically over institutions of learning. I stand guard with power in the world. Look up and see me.
I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice. I stand for freedom. I am confident. I am arrogant. I am proud. When I am flown with my fellow banners, My head is a little higher, My colors a little truer. I bow to no one! I am recognized all over the world. I am worshipped – I am saluted. I am loved – I am revered. I am respected – I am feared.
I have fought in every battle of every war for more than 200 years. I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh and Appamatox. I was there at San Juan Hill, the trenches of France, in the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome and the beaches of Normandy. Guam, Okinawa, Korea, KheSan and Saigon, Vietnam know me. I was there. I led my troops. I was dirty, battle-worn and tired, but my soldiers cheered me and I was proud.
I have been burned, torn and trampled on the streets of countries I have helped set free. It does not hurt for I am invincible. I have been soiled upon, burned, torn and trampled in the streets of my country. And when it’s done by those whom I’ve served in battle – it hurts. But I shall overcome – for I am strong. I have slipped the bonds of earth and stood watch over the uncharted frontiers of space from my vantage point on the moon. I have born silent witness to all of America’s finest hours. But my finest hours are yet to come. When I am torn into strips and used as bandages for my wounded comrades on the battle field, when I am flown at half mast to honor my soldiers, or when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent at the grave of their fallen son or daughter,
I am proud. I am the flag of the United States of America.
Al Torrisi is a natural leader and a forceful speaker at any time. Yet his voice has a stronger, more commanding timbre (good for the 50-year owner of a large lumber company) than at other times when he recites these words. Years of patriotism, loyalty and love of country spill forth as he speaks, infecting and affecting his listeners. Truth is the most spiritual statement of all. It is the truth of America and of every flag sponsor and honoree, and of the Field, itself.
As this is written the Exchange Club of Needham, Mass. has experienced vandalism of its Field of Honor with some 30 flags being burned. The empty, sinking feeling a fellow Exchangite and field of Honor afficianado feels is hard to articulate. Clearly the membrane of civilization is thin and easily sundered for those who cannot judge the presence of hatred for their own country that such an act exposes. For shame.
